Vault construction.



PATENTBD'FEB. Z4, 1903.'

WALTER VAULT CONSTRUCTION; .APPLICATION Immun. 9, 190;.

0 MODEL.

A Suva/Mofa 70.59% J- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH J. WALTER, OF WAPAKONETA, OHIO.

VAULT CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 721,260, dated February24, 1903.

Application filed March 9, 1901.

To a/ZZ whom, it may concern-f Be it known that I, JOSEPH J. WALTER, acitizen of the United States, residing at VVapakoneta, in the county ofAuglaize, in the State of Ohio, have invented anew and usefulImprovement in Vault Construction, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in vaults for the preservation ofvaluables; and

the object is to provide a simple and improvedv arrangement of vaultwhich will be proof against re and burglary, thereby affording betterprotection to the money and other valuables placed therein for safekeeping.

With the above object in view the invention consists in providing acompartment arranged at a considerable distance beneath the surface ofthe floor of the bank or other building, a plunger movable in saidcompartment, a receptacle or safe to contain the valuables ele-A vatedand lowered by the movement of said plunger, the receptacle or safebeing of a height much smaller than the depth ofthe compartment, so thatwhen lowered thereintov it will be a considerable distance below thelicor of the building, and means connected with the lower end of thecompartment for supplying the same with water or other agent underpressure, the capacity of said means being such that in full operationthe safe will not'be raised in position to be accessible until the endof a predetermined period of time The apparatus by which the aboveobject is attained will be vfully described hereinaf-'- ter,particularly pointed out in the claim, and clearly illustratedby theaccompanying drawings, in which- 'f Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectionalview of a vault constructed in accordance with my invention, the safebeing shown in position and the pumping mechanism being shown inoutline. Fig. 2 is a detail section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, and Fig.3 is a detail of construcf tion. 1

Referring now more particularly to the acl companying drawings, Adesignates a vertically-arranged compartment or casing having4 its upperend open and arranged on a level with the door B ofthe bank or otherbuilding, the remainder of said casing being embedded in the ground. Thecasing has its bottom Serial No. 50,531. (No model.)

wall closed and formed with a centrally-screwthreaded opening to receivethe screw-threaded upper end of a vertically-disposed cylinder C,having'its lower end closed, as shown. The upper end of said cylinderprojects'above the bottom wall of the casing and receives a collar E. .Acollar or ring F is bolted to the collar E, and placed between these twocollars is a packing-ring G for the purpose presently to :be set forth.Movable vertically. in

the casing is a platform H, upon which the safe or receptacle I rests,said platform having an annular seat or ring J, in which the up- 4 perend of a cylindrical stem K is positioned. This stem is open at itslower end and is provided at said open end with an exteriorbearing-collar L and has formed therein above said collar a plurality ofperforations M. This stem moves in the cylinder C through the collars Eand F and the packing-ring G. Communicating at its lower end with thecylinder C ata point just below the bottom wall of the casing is a pipeN, said pipe extending upwardly at the side of the casing and at itsupper end connected with a suitable pump O for supplying Water, air, orother agent under pressure to the lower end of the casing. Said pipe isprovided near the pump with a valved outlet P.

The platform is normally held in its upward position, with the saferaised to the surface of the floor, by air or water or other agentpumped into the cylinder G, causing the stem to be elevated in saidcylinder, thus raising the platform in the casing. When it is desired tolower the safe-as, for instance, at the close of the days business-thevalve in the pipe is opened, ,whichy cuts off the pressure from Withinthe stem, permitting the same to descend by the weight of the safeforcing the air or liquid throught-he outlet-pipe. The casing is of suchdepth that access to the safe when lowered into the casing will be`impossible. The safe is also proof against re, as

the casing is formed of a tireproof material,

Athe air or water into the stenncausing the `same to be elevated andcarrying with it the platform upon which the safe rests. The ca- IOOpaeity of this pump is such that the platform is not entirely raisedwith the safe until a lapse of considerable time, this being determinedby the banker or other person using the vault. Thus, for instance, thecapacity of the pump may be so limited that the safe will not be raisedfor six or eight hours, so that it will be impossible for any oneattempting to bnrglarize the same to effect the raising by operating thepump. The pump would be set in operation by the watchman or other personhaving charge of the vault at the necessary time in the night to insurethe complete elevation of the safe at the opening of the bank in themorning.

Having thus fully described my invention,

for lowering the platform to the bottom of the Vault.

JOSEPH J. WALTER. Witnesses:

JOHN BEoHDoL'r, CHRISTIAN LANGHORST.

